TBA President: Tennessee Plan Helps Ensure Impartiality

Tennessee Bar Association President Jackie Dixon defends the current judicial merit selection process in an opinion piece for the Tennessean. In the article, Dixon says the merit selection system, known as the Tennessee Plan, helps ensure the impartiality of the judicial system by appointing “impartial and well-qualified judges who rule not based on popular public opinion or campaign contributions but rather on the fact and law as presented.” The contemplated change in judicial appointments would replace the merit-based selection and retention election system with legislative confirmation, further politicizing our justice system, Dixon wrote. With the House poised to consider the issue next week, the TBA president concludes the article by urging citizens to ask their legislators to vote to continue the Tennessee Plan.